toledoblade.com --

Toledo police standing in the hallway could hear the arguing and struggling inside the north-end apartment.

They could hear Lori Rivera trying to open the door, pleading with her live-in boyfriend, Darryl Richardson, to let her out.

"I will bash your skull in," officers heard Mr. Richardson say.

When Mrs. Rivera began screaming, police forced entry. They found her covered with blood from several facial injuries. She was holding a kitchen knife in an attempt to keep Mr. Richardson away.

"I am glad you guys came," she told one of the officers in the May 23 incident, "because he would have killed me."

Less than three months later, police allege, he did.

Mrs. Rivera was found brutally beaten early Aug. 18 in Toledo Spain Plaza off Collingwood Boulevard and died several hours later. Mr. Richardson was arrested the same day and is charged with aggravated murder.

So why was the felonious assault charge filed against Mr. Richardson in the May attack dismissed, especially with efforts the last few years toward evidence-based prosecution in domestic violence cases?

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The answer is a complicated one.

Lucas County Prosecutor Julia Bates said the May case was dismissed by one of her assistant prosecutors at the preliminary hearing because Mrs. Rivera did not appear, and there wasn't sufficient evidence to establish the crime of felonious assault at that time.

"There has to be some nexus between the statements heard and the allegation of assault," the prosecutor said.

However, Mrs. Bates said she is looking at whether something else should have been done, such as presenting the case to a grand jury.

"Is there something here that could have been done differently? An alternative?" she asked.

In the wake of Mrs. Rivera's death, family and friends, police, and social agencies that deal with the aftermath of domestic violence against women and men are asking the same thing.

A matter of conviction

A review by The Blade found that domestic violence charges filed in Toledo Municipal Court have dropped steadily over the last several years - from 2,570 in 2002 to 1,842 in 2005. Through mid August, 1,364 charges had been filed this year. Dismissals are also down over the last several years.

In Lucas County Common Pleas Court, defendants have been convicted in the majority of indictments handed up the last five years. Victim advocates contribute to the success of cases, Mrs. Bates said.

Yet a closer look shows the number of indictments during that time has remained between 20 and 29 a year. Some of the convictions were for reduced charges, such as misdemeanor instead of felony domestic violence.

Gabrielle Davis, who chairs the Lucas County Domestic Violence Fatality Review Committee, said one must be careful in analyzing such statistics and what they mean. She pointed out that a number of domestic violence cases go unreported, and she cited policy changes about how dismissed cases are recorded.

Court records indicate that Mrs. Rivera twice failed to appear for court dates in the charges against Mr. Richardson; the detective who filed the charge couldn't find her, and the state was out of time and couldn't prosecute without the victim.

The police report states that the officers who responded to the domestic disturbance call at the apartment in May photographed the scene and Mrs. Rivera was taken to St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center for treatment. A court complaint states Mr. Richardson repeatedly punched her in the face and body, fracturing her facial bone.

"Why did they let him go?" Barb Najmi said after a recent vigil for her daughter. "I thought if the victim didn't show up, the prosecutors took over."

The lack of an accuser

Mrs. Bates said prosecutors are trying more cases that are evidence-based or without the victim/accuser present. While they lose some, she insisted that they're trying.

"You need evidence," she said. "That's always the problem ... Sometimes we can [prosecute]; not always."

Prosecutors are embracing more evidence-based prosecutions for domestic violence cases, which should be taken seriously because of the potential escalation in violence, said Nancy Neylon, executive director of the Ohio Domestic Violence Network, an advocacy group and an information clearinghouse for domestic violence victims.

"There are very creative ways of doing [evidence-based prosecutions]," she said. "There is no standard. Within the public law, there is a great deal of discretion."

For example, she said, the Warren County prosecutor is using calls made from jail by domestic violence suspects as evidence in such cases. These include calls made by a suspect to the victim or by the suspect to a third party, who then contacts the victim to intimidate or talk the victim out of going forward.

Three years ago, Toledo police received training in evidence-based prosecutions to increase the conviction rate for domestic violence in the city.

Officers collect evidence, such as photographs of the scene and the victim's injuries and statements from the victim and witnesses, including children. There is a special form to fill out in addition to the normal crime report to make sure no details in domestic violence cases are overlooked.

Wood County Prosecutor Ray Fischer said law enforcement officers in that county's bigger cities are making strides in enabling his office to proceed with evidence-based prosecutions.

The county's only homicide last year resulted from domestic violence.

"It's a sophisticated type of prosecution, and it's difficult to do," said Ms. Davis, who is also director of clinical programs at the University of Toledo College of Law.

Ms. Neylon agreed. Even if prosecutors decide to proceed without a victim, she noted that a judge could determine they don't have a strong enough case without a witness, or a jury could acquit simply because they don't see a victim.

"At any stage of the case, you could lose," Ms. Neylon said.

Ms. Davis said a broad-based effort to prevent domestic violence is needed and that society must get to the root of the problem rather than dealing with it after it happens.

U.S. Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D, Toledo) last week announced the release of a $197,446 grant to UT's law school to help study what more can be done to combat domestic violence.

"Even if the criminal justice system gets it right every time and prosecutes without victims, that will never ensure a tragedy like Lori's will never happen," Ms. Davis said.

Seeking a buffer

Those who know Mrs. Rivera said they tried to help the mother of four boys, who was still legally married but had been separated from her husband for three years. But Mrs. Rivera was afraid of Mr. Richardson, family and friends said.

"She'd kick him out, and he'd show back up," said her friend, Jenny Losey. She added later: "It's sad you gotta be that scared of someone you can't ever leave."

A month before the May incident, Mrs. Rivera was assaulted in East Toledo. She told police her boyfriend beat her, but she didn't want to get him in trouble. She gave different information about herself and didn't give Mr. Richardson's name as a suspect.

Ms. Najmi said her daughter recently had started a new job and moved into the Executive Towers apartment building near downtown Toledo after the May assault because it had 24-hour security. But the owner of the Sylvania firm providing security there told The Blade that the complex could no longer pay for the service and her company was dismissed from the building Aug. 13 - five days before Mrs. Rivera was killed.

Ms. Najmi said her daughter was upset the security officers were let go because they provided a buffer that kept Mr. Richardson from her apartment. Sherrie Johnston, the security firm owner, confirmed that Mrs. Rivera complained to her officers repeatedly about Mr. Richardson.

A wreath, cross, and candles memorialize Mrs. Rivera in Toledo Spain Plaza, a park near her apartment building where she was found brutally beaten last month. Mr. Richardson is in the Lucas County jail awaiting trial.

While county prosecutors can't discuss specifics of the May assault case further because of the pending homicide case, they are continuing to collect information to see if something else could have been done with the evidence in the earlier incident. The previous case could be introduced at Mr. Richardson's murder trial.

"The answers to the questions will at least tell us something that could have happened, that should have happened," Mrs. Bates said.

Contact Christina Hall at: chall@theblade.com or 419-724-6007.

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